L'hôte

This is a movie which will go straight into "best monster movies" lists; it is ground-breaking in the way humorous and horror content has been intertwined by a master film director. It was the closing film, shown last night (July 30) in the Auckland International Film Festival. There was a packed house of which about 60% were Korean people living in New Zealand. The audience was very attentive and the reception given to the movie was justly big applause. The animatronic effects have been done scrupulously well and viewers can look forward to being enthralled by the skills of those who "made the monster". We got the print which had come straight from Cannes and apparently the film opened just two days before we saw it in Auckland. There is no doubt that this movie will go on to do very big business wherever people appreciate great horror films. My inclination to rate it 10/10 was tempered only by a little doubt about the pacing of some sequences, but it is certainly worth 9/10. Look out for when it comes to a theater near you.